Battle of Shusha (1992)

This article is about the 1992 battle. For the 2020 battle, see Battle of Shusha (2020).

39°45.5′N 46°44.9′E / 39.7583°N 46.7483°E / 39.7583; 46.7483

Battle of Shusha (Shushi)
Part of the First Nagorno-Karabakh War

Gagik Avsharyan's restored T-72 tank commemorating the capture of Shusha
Date8–9 May 1992
Location
Shushi
Result

Armenian victory

Belligerents
 Nagorno-Karabakh
 Armenia		  Azerbaijan
Chechen Republic of Ichkeria Chechen militants[1]
Commanders and leaders
Republic of Artsakh Arkady Ter-Tadevosyan
Republic of Artsakh Samvel Babayan
Republic of Artsakh Seyran Ohanyan
Armenia Gurgen Dalibaltayan
Armenia Jirair Sefilian
Armenia Vardan Stepanyan		 Azerbaijan Rahim Gaziyev
Azerbaijan Elbrus Orujev
Azerbaijan Elkhan Orujev
Chechen Republic of Ichkeria Shamil Basayev[1]
Chechen Republic of Ichkeria Salman Raduyev[1]
Strength
1,000–1,800 troops
4 tanks
2 Mil Mi-24 helicopters		 2,500 troops
Several tanks
BM-21 Grad artillery
Casualties and losses
35–58 killed[4][5][6][7] 150–200 killed[5][7]
300 wounded[5]
13[5]–68[8] POW
~15,000 Azerbaijanis displaced[9][10]

The Battle of Shusha[a] (Codenamed: Operation Wedding in The Mountains; Armenian: Հարսանիք լեռներում, Harsaniq lernerum; Russian: Свадьба в горах, Svadba v gorakh) (Armenian: Շուշի, Shushi) was the first significant military victory by Armenian forces during the First Nagorno-Karabakh War. The battle took place in the strategically important mountain town of Shusha on the evening of 8 May 1992, and fighting swiftly concluded the next day after Armenian forces captured it and drove out the defending Azerbaijanis. Armenian military commanders based in Nagorno-Karabakh's capital of Stepanakert had been contemplating capturing the town after Azerbaijani shelling of Stepanakert from Shusha for half a year had led to hundreds of Armenian civilian casualties and mass destruction in Stepanakert.

The capture of the town proved decisive. Shusha was the most important military stronghold that Azerbaijan held in Nagorno-Karabakh – its loss marked a turning point in the war, and led to a series of military victories by Armenian forces in the course of the conflict.[12]

  1. ^ a b c Askerov, Ali, ed. (2018). Contemporary Russo–Turkish Relations: From Crisis to Cooperation. Lexington Books. p. 131. ISBN 978-1-4985-5323-0. Indeed, Chechen fighters did aid Azerbaijani forces in their fight against Armenians. Most notably, Shamil Bassaev and Salman Raduev, the notorious rebel Chechen field commanders and warlords, alongside their troops, were involved in the battle of Shusha in 1992, which ended with Armenian victory.
  2. ^ de Waal, Thomas (2003). Black Garden: Armenia and Azerbaijan Through Peace and War. New York: New York University Press. p. 175. ISBN 978-0-8147-1945-9. In May, when Shushi had been captured and the siege lifted, Stepanakert was a shattered town.
  3. ^ Altstadt, Audrey L. (2015). Ethnic Conflict in the Post-Soviet World: Case Studies and Analysis. Routledge. p. 247. ISBN 9781317470991. When Armenian forces took Shushi in May 1992, they established a land corridor across undisputed Azerbaijani land, taking the town of Lachin...
  4. ^ (in Russian) "The Battle and Capture of Shusha." An interview with General Gurgen Dalibaltayan.
  5. ^ a b c d Cite error: The named reference ysu was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ (in Russian) Melik-Shahnazarov, Arsen. "Нагорный Карабах: факты против лжи
  7. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference Azerbaijanis p. 314 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  8. ^ Rafiqoğlu, Aqşin (6 May 2010). "Şuşanın işğalı ilə bağlı beynəlxalq təşkilatlara bəyanat ünvanlanıb" [A statement was made to international organizations on the occupation of Shusha] (in Azerbaijani). ANS Press. Archived from the original on 1 December 2017. Retrieved 21 November 2017.
  9. ^ "Шуша – цитадель Карабаха: почему она важна для азербайджанцев и армян" [Shusha is the citadel of Karabakh: why is it important for Azerbaijanis and Armenians]. BBC Russian Service (in Russian). 7 November 2020. Archived from the original on 9 November 2020. Retrieved 8 November 2020.
  10. ^ Amirbayov, Elchin (December 2001). "Shusha's Pivotal Role in a Nagorno-Karabagh Settlement". In Shaffer, Brenda (ed.). Policy Brief Number 6. Cambridge, MA: Caspian Studies Program, Harvard University. "BCSIA - Publication - Shusha's Pivotal Role in a Nagorno-Karabagh Settlement". Archived from the original on 1 September 2006. Retrieved 8 November 2020.
  11. ^ "Shusha: 20 years of peace". PanARMENIAN.Net. 9 May 2012. Retrieved 10 June 2013.
  12. ^ Chorbajian, Levon (2001). The Making of Nagorno-Karabagh: From Secession to Republic. New York: Palgrave MacMillan, p. 141 ISBN 0-333-77340-3


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